Ice-making apparatus



Jan. 27, 1959 M. w. GARLAND 70,612 I ICE-MAKING APPARATUS Filed Aug. 29, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 W V k was J I... R FRIG R N INVENTQ MILTON w, GARLAND ATTORNEY Jan. 27, 1959 M. w. GARLAND ICE-MAKING APPARATUS 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 29, 1955 09 #U mU NU BEBE uuimuc 0-303 INVENTOR MILTON W. GARLAND ATTORNEY 'of the shell.

United Sttes Patent 0 ICE-MAKING APPARATUS Milton W. Garland, Waynesboro, Pa., assignor to Frich Company, Waynesboro, Pa., afirm of Pennsylvania Application August 29, 1955, Serial No. 531,017

,14 Claims. (Cl. 62-438) This application relates to refrigeration and more particularly to efficiently making ice in fragment form, and is adaptable to machines of a wide range of capacities.

Under present day marketing and merchandising conditions ice in fragment or particle form is in large demand. It is used commercially for the cooling of'perishable goods during shipment and while it is on display and otherwise awaiting purchase and removal. It. is also used to cool beverages by being placed directly in the container therewith.

A large number of machines for producing ice of' this general character have been tried, some of which are in use, and the present invention is believed to be an improvement thereover.

It has been proposed'heretofore to'make'ice in substantially the form of an elongated rod by freezing it within a shell, refrigeration being applied to' the exterior One of the inherent disadvantages of this process is that the removal of heat from the core portion is relatively slowbecause of heat transmission 'difiiculties through the intervening wall of ice, ice being a relatively poor conductor. The use of lower freezing temperatures results in clouding the ice, which is usually undesirable.

According to the present invention, water 'is caused to flow down the exterior of a tube, the interior of which is flooded with refrigerant resulting in a cylinder "of ice forming on the tube. The problem of heat transmission through the ice, as it is formed, to the flowing water is minimized because of the relatively larger amount of ice which may be formed without the formation of an excessively thick wall of ice.

For example, considering a theoretical tube two inches in internal diameter, of zero Wall thickness, 'on which ice one inch thick is formed, the cross-sectional area of the one inch'thick cylinder of ice is three times as great as the area internally of'the cylinder, although the radial distance for heat transmission is the same. This diiference increases as the wall thickness increases according to the square of the diameter. Applicants tubes, in certain applications, are approximately four'inches in diameter, and ice is formed thereon up to a half-inch in thickness. Thus, it is apparent that ice'can be'produced more eificiently on the exterior of a cylinder than on the interior, so far as heat transmission through the.ice,- as it is formed, is concerned.

One of the important factors in the productionof ice is the speed with which it is available. When .over-all operation is considered, a difference of only afraction of a minute has a'l'arge effect on the output. Forexample, if an ice machine is set to operate'with a=tenminute cycle and this includes two minutes for ham/esting, the reduction of the harvesting time to one :minute would result in an increase in output of ten percent. Heretofore, the entire cycle, including the harvestingportion has usually been controlled by a timer which-necessarily was set for the maximum outside limit contemplated. The differences in the time required-for the cycle .lecting area.

2,870,612 Patented Jan. 27, 1959 ice vary according to weather, condensing pressures, etc. To set a timer for operation under a variety'of conditions has required the provision for from one to two additional minutes over what might be necessary under more favorable conditions. Thus, asubstantial amount of time has been wasted.

ther difficulties have arisen heretofore-because of problems connected with breaking the ice into fragments of substantially uniform size.

Accordingly, it is an object of thepres'ent invention to provide an ice maker for efiiciently producing 'substantially uniform fragments of ice-and "which adaptable for machines of varying capacities.

A further object is the provision of an ice making machine for producing ice on the outer surface or one or more elongated tubes and controlling the distribution of refrigerant therein in order toproduce the ice-uniformly and eliminate difficulties normallyaccompanying complex refrigeration layouts. I

A further object is the provision of control-means responsive to the removal of ice from the surfaces on which it is formed for initiating further refrigeration of the surfaces whereby the time required for the total refrigeration cycle may be reduced. to a minimum andlnraximum usage made of the time periodff or which'the apparatus is set.

A further object is the provision of simple structure by means of which the iee'may be quickly broken into fragments of substantially uniform sizej fin a one5step operation.

A further object is the provision of controls 'for the system which provide for itsoperation' without unproductive time loss.

These'and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the following description in conjunction with'the accompanying drawings in'whichz.

Figure 1 is a perspective, with'parts broken away for illustrative purposes, of ice makingapp-aratus constructed in accordance with the present invention;

Figure 2, a schematic diagram of apparatus similar'to that illustrated in Figure 1 and showing the control .circuit;

Figure 3, a fragmentary detail perspectiveillustrating the ice sensing control mechanism; and

Figure 4 is a fragmentary schematic'illustratiomof a modified form of apparatus. 7

Briefly stated, the apparatus illustratedincludes a plurality of vertical tubes closed at their lower ends and opening at their top ends into a common header, the latter being normally in communication with an accumulator which maintains thetubes 'inflooded condition during the ice-making portion of the cycle. Water is sprayed onto the upper surfaces of the tubes an'd' a portion'thereof frozen as it flows downwardly; waterdrainingoff the tubes is re-circulated. (lontrol means actuated ;by a timer permits the freezing'tocontinue for a period within a cage having openings of uniform width through which the ice falls onto a grid fordeflection'intoa col- An ice sensinggdevice mounted :adjacent to the tubes places the apparatus, in condition for-:the next icemaking cycle assoon as theblastsheathof ice has been removed from the tubes.

3 Freezing apparatus Referring to the drawings and particularly to Figures 1 and 2, the illustrated apparatus includes aplurality of tubes connected at their upper ends to a header 11 which may receive refrigerant by conduit 12 controlled by piston type valve 13 from accumulator 14. Gaseous refrigerant may be drawn through conduit 15 controlled by piston type valve 16 into the upper portion of the accumulator 14. The accumulator receives liquid refrigerant through line 17 controlled by electric valve 18, the proper level being maintained by float valve 19. Suc-. tion connection 21 at the upper portion of the accumulator leads to a compressor (not shown).

Pipes 25 and 26 are connected together on opposite sides of the tubes 10 and receive water from pipe 27, the water being sprayed or flowed onto'the tube by a plurality of spaced nozzles 28. During the freezing cycle,

v a portion of the water freezes on the exterior of the tubes and the remainder flows past breaker members 30 and a through a grid 32 to a container therebeneat'n from which it is recirculated by pump 33 driven by motor 34, make-up I being provided through conduit 35 controlled by float valve 31.

Defrosting and harvesting apparatus At the conclusion of the freezing cycle the ice is defrosted from the exterior of the tubes and slides downwardly into contact with the breaker members 30. The breaker members 30 may be of any desired configuration, but in the illustration consist of rectangular rod members connected intermediate their ends to shaft 36- which is suitably mounted for rotation by the breaker drive motor 37.

A breaker member 30 is positioned one under each tube 10 and has a pair of striker bars 30' at each end thereof spaced from the shaft 36 and substantially parallel:

thereto. The breaker members 30 are angularly disposed with respect to each other, as indicated, in order that ends mounted in the walls 39 and 40 of the harvester.

The rods are arranged about the axis of the shaft 36 and permit ice which has been broken sufliciently small to pass between the rods to be discharged therebeneath. As

Also communicating with the space 54 isa pipe which extends upwardly through the tube 10 from the annular portion 57 of the false bottom into a distribution header 61, the header 61 being connected to a non-return loop 62, the upper portion of which is positioned above the normal liquid level in the accumulator 14, and the end of which is connected to the upper portion of the headerll." i f j Another distribution header 64 has a pipe 65 extending downwardly into the central portion of each tube 10' and has its lower extremity 65" spaced slightly above the depressed portion 56 of the false bottom 55. From the header 64 a common pipe66 extends into the upper portion of a collecting drum 67. For removing refrigerant liquid from the lower portion of the drum 67 an L 68 has its inlet 69 inverted so that it is disposed toward the bottom of the drum. Pipe 70, controlled by electric l valve 71, is connected to the upper portion of accumulator 14 above the normal liquid level'therein.

During the freezing portion of the cycle liquid refrigerant flows from the accumulator through conduit 12 controlled by pressure operated valve 13 into the main'header 11. Gaseous refrigerant is withdrawn from header 11 through conduit 15 connected to the. upper portionof accumulator 14, flow being controlled by the pressure operated valve 16. The pressure operated piston type-valves 13 and 16 are connected to line 76 which .is connected to the hot gas line 50' so that when hot l'refrigerant gas flows through line 50, the pressure will cause the normally open valves 13 and 16 to close.

In order to initiate a new ice freezing cycle as soon as I" all of. the icehas been removed from the tubes ice sensing control apparatus is provided, the details of which are illustrated in Fig. 3; The apparatus includes'a shaft 80 which i mounted for oscillation between standards Rigidly connected to the shaft at spaced intervals are a plurality of fingers 81, each having an 'ahgularly disposed contacting portion or tip 82 disposed adjacent to its respective tube 19. An arm 83 is rigidly connected to shaft 80 and has a weight 84 at one end there of which tends to rotate the shaft 86 clockwise, as viewed in Fig. 3 until the tips 82 of the fingers 81 contact the tubes 10, thus stopping further rotation of the shaft 80. An adjusting screw 85 is connected to the under side of the arm 83 adjacent to the weight 84for contacting a gmicroswitch 86 whose purpose will be described later.

a result the fragments of ice are of substantially uniform size. 5 Ice fragments discharging from the sizing cage are deflected by the grid 32 into a collecting area such as the. I chute 40. The grid 32 may consist of a plurality of closely spaced rods which deflect fragments-of ice but permit water to pass readily therethrough for recirculato apply refrigerant during freezing to the lower ends.

Apparatus for accomplishing this and 2 as follows.

Pipe 50, which has a normally closed electrically operated valve 51, is connected to the compressor discharge (not shown) in order that hot refrigerant gas may be is illustrated in Figs. 1

supplied for defrosting. Pipe 50 is connected by distribution header 52 to a plurality of pipes 53, one for each tube. Each pipe 53 extends down through the header 11 and a tube 10 into communication'with a space 54 at the lower end of the tube. The space 54 is formed by a false bottom 55 having a depressed central portion 56 and a raised annular portion57 and an end closure plug 58 is provided at the lower extremity of each of the tubes.

Adjacent to and suitably mounted above the other end of the arm 83 is a solenoid 87 which has a core 88 to.

which a weight 89 is attached. The solenoid is so dis- 7 posed adjacent to the arm 83 that during the ice making portion of the cycle the solenoid weight 89 'rests onth'e arm 83 and its weight is sufficient to more than counterbalance the weight 84 to maintain the shaft 80in such I tion'of ice thereon or become frozen into the ice.

A modification of the refrigerant connection between a the accumulator and the headers for keeping the tubes flooded is illustrated in Fig. 4. This modified form is particularly adapted for large installations in which there might be, for example, a double bank of tubes 116' supplied by headers 111, 111' from valve 112 which is controlled by a floating piston having spaced bases 113 connected by spaced rods or the like 114 which permit fluid flowthereacross when the piston is in the position illustrated in Fig. 4. The hot gas line 511 has bleedsline 115 controlled by electric valve 116 which when the latter is open, permits the high pressure gas to act against the lower endof the piston valve 112. and close 52 is controlled by a piston type valve 117 to which a bleeder line 118 ,is connected. Bleeder linejilS hasan adjustable throttling valve 11? and an electric valve 126 pump 33,- cam C t having 1 In the modified device illustrated in Fig. 4 during the,

freezing operation liquid refrigerant in thetubes 110, 110' is in communication through valve 112 with accumulator 114. At the start of defrosting electric valves 116 and 120 are opened simultaneously, the electrical connection being substituted for that of valve 51 in Fig. 2. Opening of valve 116 permits high pressure refrigerant gas to flow through bleeder tube 115 and force piston 113 upwardly against its seat adjacent .to the bottom of accumulator 114 thus preventing refrigerant flow'therethr'ough. Althoughvalve 120 is opened's'imultaneously, the bleeding the'op ening of piston valve 117 to permit hot gas to flow into distribution header 52 is delayed until after valve 112 has been closed. 1 i

, 1 In the modification of Fig. 4 the valve 112 takes the place of conduits 12 and 15 in Fig. 2 thus eliminating these and their controls. Otherwise the construction and operation of the modified device illustrated in Fig. 4 cor-,

responds to that of Fig. 2.

Accordingly it will be understood that the invention provides for the flooded operation of one or more tubes and for the flowing of water on the exterior thereof so that ice may beformed. The tubes are so constructed that space at the bottom is not directly refrigerated and the space can be heated at the beginning of defrosting in order-to free the lower end of the ice cylinder 'at the initiation of defrosting.

Hot gas defrosting is provided including an arrangement for supplying-the hot gas initially to the lower ends ofthe tubes and Without the necessity for having any external pipes or the like extending from the lower ends of the tubes which would interferewith the formation of ice or the operation of the ice breaking mechanism. Other heating means for the lower ends of the tubes could obviously be employed in place of the specific arrangement illustrated. The liquid refrigerant is quickly evacuated from the tubes so that defrosting is accomplished in abrief time and mechanism responsive to the removal of ice from the tubes is provided for placing the apparatus back into freezing operation as soon as defrosting is completed, thus eliminatingnonproductive time. Y i

3 Ice breaking mechanism is provided for breaking the ice into fragments of predetermined size, the structure being simple and affording breaking and sizing simuljtaneously.. The system is applicableto large, or small units, the modification of Fig. 4 being particularly adapted for the former and that of Figs. 1 and 2 for units of small and moderate capacities. 7

Although particular apparatus'has been disclosed, it

I will be understood by those skilled in the art. that various changes and modifications therein may be made within the spirit and'scope thereof and therefore that .plying refrigerant, a second conduit from the upper portion of the accumulator connected to the header for withdrawing gaseous refrigerant,- said conduits being connected to spaced portions of the header whereby liquid and gaseous refrigerant flow through the header in the same direction, valve means in said first and secnd conduits for controlling flow'therethrough, means for supplying hot refrigerant gas to the header, conduit means for the passage of liquid refrigerant from the tubes into the accumulaton and means responsive to the flow of hot refrigerant gas in said supplying means for closing said first and second conduits.

2. Apparatus'forproducing ice comprising a plurality of spaced vertical tubes, means for flowing water over said .tubes, means for supplying liquid refrigerant to said tubes for freezing the water, and means for removing said liquid during defrosting, said last-mentioned means comprising a false bottom at the lower portion of said tubes enclosing a space, a first pipe extending from the upper portion of said tubes downwardly therethrough and into communication with said space, a second pipe extending from said false bottom in communication with said space to the upper portion of each of said tubes, and

a third pipe extending from just above said false bottom to collection means for said liquid refrigerant.

3. The apparatus defined in claim 2 in which a separate distribution header is provided to connect together the upper portions of said first, second and third pipes.

4. Apparatus for producing ice comprising a tube, means for flowing water over said tube, means for supplying liquid refrigerant to said tube for freezing the water, and means for removing said liquid during defrosting, said last-mentioned means comprising a false bottom at the lower portion of said tubes enclosinga space, a first pipe extending from the upper portion of said tube downwardly therethrough and into communication with said space, a second pipe extending from said false bottom in communication with said space. to the upper portionof said tube, and a third pipe extending from just above said false bottom to collection means for said liquid refrigerant. f

5. For use in a refrigeration system, a tube for receiving cooling fluid in its interior during a freezing cycle in which water is frozen on its exterior, and for receiving relatively warm fluid displacing the cooling fluid during a defrosting cycle in which ice is removed from its exterior, comprising an elongated shell having a first closed end and a second end, wall means adjacent to the first end separating the space between said closed end and the wall means from the remainder of the interior of the shell, first, second, and third conduits extending from said second end longitudinally through the shell, said first and second conduits communicating with each other through said space at said first end, said second conduit having an end adjacent to said second end and in communication therewith, said first and third conduits extending exteriorly of said second end, said third conduit terminating in spaced relation from said wall means, and means for introducing cooling fluid and withdrawing it. from said shell through said second end.

6. A defrosting control for sensing the presence of ice on a member and for operating control means as soon as the ice has beenremoved from the member, comprising a shaft rotatably mounted adjacent to the member, a finger rigidly connected to the shaft and extending laterally from the shaft and positioned to engage the member after rotation of the shaft from a first position to a second position, the engagement of the finger with ice on the member preventing such rotation, an arm rigidly connected to the shaft, 21 first means for engaging the arm and holding the shaft in first position during the period of formation of ice on the member,

means for removing said first holding means from engagement with the arm at the end of the ice formation period, a second means on the arm for biasing it and the shaft toward the second position and for moving said shaft to second position after 'said first holding means is removed from engagement with the arm and ice is removed from the member, the movement of said shaft to second position operating control means to initiate the formation of ice on said member and for engaging said first holding means with said arm.

7. A defrosting control for sensing the presence of ice on a member and for operating control means as soon as the ice has been removed from the member, comprising a shaft rotatably mounted adjacent to the member, a finger connected to the shaft and extending laterally from the shaft and positioned to engage the member after rotation of the shaft from a first position to a second position, the engagement of the finger with ice on the member preventing such rotation, means for holding the shaft in first position during the period of formation of ice on the member, means for rendering said first holding means inoperative to hold said shaft in first position at the end of the ice formation period, means for biasing the shaft toward the second position and for moving it to second position after said first holding means is removed and ice is removed from the member, the movement of said shaft to second position operating control means to initiate the formation of ice on said member and for placing said first holding means in operative condition.

8. Apparatus for producing sheaths of ice on a plurality of tubes comprising an accumulator, means for supplying said accumulator with refrigerant, a valve controlled passageway beneath said accumulator, a plurality of tubes connected to said valve controlled passageway, pressure responsive valve means in said passageway, a conduit for hot refrigerant gas under pressure, means for connecting said conduit to said tubes for defrosting the same, pressure controlled valve means in said hot gas conduit, means for bleeding refrigerant from said pressure controlled valve means, first valve means in said bleeding means, second valve means in said bleeding means for restricting flow therethrough when said first valve means is open, means connecting said hot gas conduit to said pressure responsive valve means, and valve means in said hot gas conduit connecting means, whereby opening of said valve means in said hot gas conduit connecting means and said valve means in said bleeder means will cause the valve in said passage means to close before the pressure controlled valve means in said hot gas conduit can open.

9. In apparatus for producing ice and breaking the same into fragments in which the ice is produced in elongated form having a relatively thin wall and is permitted to fall lengthwise downwardly under the influence of gravity substantially without hindrance, an ice breaker and sizing device for engaging the ice as it moves progressively into contact therewith and breaking it into fragments of substantially uniform size, comprising a rotatable shaft disposed transversely of the axis of the ice and in its path as it is moved, means for driving said shaft, abutment means mounted on said shaft for engaging the end portion of the ice as it advances toward said shaft and breaking fragments therefrom and a concave cage mounted beneath the shaft and radially spaced from the abutment means as the latter rotates, the cage having its concavity facing upwardly sufficiently to retain ice during. comminution and having spaced openings of substantially uniform size for permitting ice fragments to fall through the cage.

10. The structure of claim 9, the cage being comprised of a plurality of spaced parallel rods arranged substantially equidistantly from the shaft.

11. The structure of claim 9, the cage being comprised of a plurality of spaced rods arranged parallel to the shaft and to each other and substantially equidistantly from the shaft.

12. In a refrigeration system, a heat exchange member and means for supplying refrigerant to said heat exchange member to cool the same and for applying water in heat exchange relation therewith to be frozen, means for interrupting the cooling of said heat exchange member and applying heat thereto in order to free the ice therefrom, and means in contact with the ice and operable responsive to movement of the ice out of contact therewith to engage switch means to initiate cooling of said heat exchange member.

13. in a refrigeration system a heat exchanger, means for supplying refrigerant to said heat exchanger, means for applying water to said heat exchanger for freezing by the refrigerant, means for heating said heat exchanger to defrost the ice therefrom, and control means in contact with the ice and operable responsive to movement of the ice out of contact therewith to engage switch means for controlling the operation of said refrigerant supply means and said water applying means.

14. Apparatus for producing sheaths of ice, comprising a plurality of vertical tubes, means for alternately supplying refrigerant to and removing the same from the interior of said tubes, means for spraying water on the exterior surfaces of said tubes while the same contain such refrigerant whereby cylindrical sheaths of ice are formed about said tubes, means at the lower ends of the tubes for heating the same and freeing the lower ends of the ice sheaths from the tubes before the upper portions thereof are freed, conduit means connecting said heating means to a remote source of supply for said heat, other conduit means connecting said heating means to the upper portions of said tubes and spaced substantially from the lower ends of the tubes, both of said conduit means being within and out of contact with the walls of said tubes and being of substantially less diameter than said tubes whereby the capacity of the tubes is only slightly reduced and substantial heat transfer from said conduit means is avoided.

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